• Weekly Weigh-In #11: 228.9 lbs.
• Last week’s weight: 230.7 lbs.
• Gain/loss of: -1.8 lbs.
• Weekly average lost: 2.2 lbs.

I’m down almost 2 lbs. for the week so I’m pretty happy about that. It’s not exactly where I want to be but hey, it’s definitely not a gain, either.

On the exercise front I continue to spend at least 30-45 minutes a night doing Wii Fit aerobics, yoga and strength training. I avoid the balance games because they are, for all intents and purposes, pretty dull. I know I said I’d try this for a week instead of the sit-ups but I think I’m going to stick with this one a while.

Speaking of physical activity, I’ve given up on the Ab-Lounge. I tried it for a week and realized that it didn’t work as well as real sit-ups (duh) and didn’t seem to help me lose anything. So it’s now hanging from a hook in the garage waiting for somebody to take it. Any takers? Maybe I’ll eBay it as “The Official Ab-Lounge Used on 200by40!!! L@@K!!! ONE OF A KIND!!!“

Um, maybe not.

And since I’m sticking to the Wii Fit thing, I’ve chopped my daily walk from 1.5 miles to 1 mile (for the time being). I figure since I’m doing the extra 30-45 minutes per night of sweating, walking up to the sixth floor of my office building and staying busy with the kid when I get home, it’s not going to hurt me much.

Food…yes, that. I’m still keeping everything under control and today’s lunch–or last night’s dinner–feels like it will sustain me for the rest of the day. In fact I’m very full and may only have a banana between now and the time I have dinner.

And you see those links at the bottom of this post (and each one from this point forward)? It’s something I started yesterday. Clicking on one of those will allow you to “sociaally” bookmark each post and send to friends, keep, etc. I figured that might help me get a few more hits on ye olde blog and maybe get the word out to those who might be struggling a little.

That’s all for now. I’m going to make a prediction for Weekly Weigh-In #12: 225.9 lbs. That’s 3 lbs. to lose in a week’s time. That’ll get me closer to the low 220s and from there, the 210s await me. Not only that, it’ll easily take me over the 70 lbs. lost mark.

Think I can do it? Find out next Tuesday!

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Bookmark this post:

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With those results, you would probably think I’m a bit upset. That attitude is a startling contrast to my previous entry in which I was annoyed at not being able to crack the 230 lb. mark.

The reality is that I’m not upset when I look back at the week of eating I had. On Friday we wished one of our co-workers off to a happy retirement by taking him to lunch and then having some cake and ice cream in his honor. Then on Sunday, we celebrated a belated Mother’s Day with a smörgåsbord of Italian foods courtesy of a friend’s pizza restaurant.

And I’m not gonna lie–I indulged. Celebrations happen.

So taking all those factors into consideration, I’m not entirely upset at my results for this week, all of which which leads me into the next topic.

In case you didn’t notice, there’s been yet another change to the Weekly Weigh-In stats. The “At my current rate…” number has been omitted because, in all honesty, I felt as if I was pushing myself to lose more weight in a shorter amount of time. That whole mentality was going against why I was trying to lose weight in the beginning: to be at 200 lbs. (or less) by my 40th birthday. Even by losing a mere 1 lb. a week, at this point I will reach 40 at less than 200 lbs. So I decided to eliminate the pressure of trying to get it done sooner and sticking with my doctor-recommended plan of 1-2 lbs. per week.

Time to pick up and move on–gradually.

Oh, and Wii Fit hits the shelves tomorrow! I’m hoping to get my hands on one (which is highly unlikely on the week of release without a reservation). If and when I do, keep an eye out here for commentary and results. Even if it doesn’t claim to do what people are expecting it to, it sure looks interesting–and fun

As part of my exercising last night, I chose to take out all of the old carpeting in the garage and cut it into small squares for disposal. It took a good couple of hours and it got all of us out of the (hot) house for a little while. I got a bit dusty but I’m sure I burned off quite a few calories in the process.

And yesterday I decided that after my lunchtime walk, I’m going to take the stairs and walk up to the top (5th) floor and back down for more exercise.

Well, I hope you all had a better week than I did. Let’s make this one even better.

Today was Bagel and Muffin Day at work as is every second Wednesday of the month. While the temptation to eat a muffin was indeed great, I opted for the Asiago Cheese bagel and Weight Watchers cream cheese–9 Points total–and a glass of Rice Dream.

The bagels are bought from Noah’s and if you haven’t had them, they are tasty. The muffins, on the other hand, are purchased in bulk from Costco and while they do look mighty tempting, you just gotta say “no” to them.

After returning to my desk I decided to look up the nutritional value of those Kirkland Signature muffins. Here’s what I found out, and I’m glad I passed on them (Weight Watchers Points are in bold):

• Almond Poppy Muffin (670 cal, 38 g fat, 2g fiber) 16.5
• Blueberry Muffin (610 cal, 32 g fat, 2 g fiber) 14.5
• Chocolate Muffin (690 cal, 38 g fat, 3 g fiber) 16.5
• Orange Cranberry Muffin (690 cal, 38 g fat, 3 g fiber) 16.5

Info courtesy Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone

Wow. Just wow. That’s an average of 665 calories and 36.5g of fat per muffin. At this rate, the fiber content doesn’t even matter. So if you ever come across one of those things, don’t walk away from it–RUN!

And after literally at least a year of sitting in our shed, I dragged the Ab-Lounge out of retirement. You see, we cleaned out our garage last weekend and how have room to park the car in there. I still don’t believe it, either. I think we’re the only ones on the block that can do that.

Anyway, I now have room to use the Ab-Lounge once again and when done, hang it from a hook on the wall. And let me say this: after not using it for a while, it hurts.

Finally, I’m not really sure how to categorize these (as Victories or Milestones). But here’s a few things I’ve noticed lately:

• My new belt, which I started on the fourth notch, is now up to the sixth notch!
• My size 42 pants are slowly getting baggy!

That’s about all I got for now. Once again, thanks to all of you who have been reading this and are finding inspiration in my trials and tribulations. Keep on coming back; there’s always something new

I have made a few changes to the Weekly Weigh-In information. First, I have chosen to eliminate the “Current Stats” bullet list from the Weekly Weigh-In because it appears as if I am on track to only reach my goal, but do it well in advance. I am now including the date I am projected to reach my goal of 200 lbs.

Second, I now include my previous week’s weight so it’s easier to keep track of things. Now on to a review of last week!

When you screw up one week, don’t wallow in it. Move on and try for something better the next. And that’s exactly what I did this week. After losing a dismal 1.6 lbs. the previous week, I stepped up and dropped nearly 4 lbs. this week. The 220s are within sight and I’m happy about that.

I don’t mean to make this a short entry but I’m afraid I must. I got word last week that a friend’s father was in the hospital dying; last night I got confirmation of his passing and the date of the funeral. As such, this may be my last entry for the week as tomorrow night we will be preparing to go to Las Vegas (where my friend lives), driving out on Thursday, attending the funeral on Friday and returning on Saturday. It’s going to be a hectic few days but it’s what I must do. This also means that I will probably not be monitoring my weight during that time but I will still be watching what I am eating.

Thank you in advance for your understanding, and see you next week.

UPDATE 5/7/08 8 a.m. I forgot to add that I will also not be moderating any comments during my absence so if you leave a comment between Wednesday night and Saturday night, chances are I will not approve it until Sunday or Monday. Sorry…

If you ask me, it’s a little of both.

Author David Zinczenko is ca$hing in on the laziness of Americans by catering to their one vice: fast food. In his book Eat This, Not That! he tackles the issue of choosing between which of the worst foods are actually, well, better than the other.

Take the example on the cover. Although it’s hard to see, the author—he’s the editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine—is telling you to choose a Big Mac (540 calories; 29g of fat) over a Whopper (760 calories; 46g of fat).

Well, gollllly, Sgt. Carter! That’s fantastic! By eating the Big Mac, I not only save all those calories but also cut my fat intake to 29g instead of 46g for one meal! I guess I’ll order the fries, too!

But wait! What about the sodium content? The Big Mac has 1,040 mg of sodium; the Whopper has 1,450 mg. When you consider that the RDA is 2,400 mg, either one will get you nearly halfway to your RDA for sodium in no time flat. And remember, too, that the RDA amounts are based on a 2,000 calorie daily intake. So when you factor in the amount of calories, fat, sodium and saturated fat (with an RDA of 20g) of the burgers, neither is “healthier” than the other.

Also consider that as editor-in-chief of a health magazine, the man’s lifestyle is likely to be less sedentary than the average person trying to drop a few pounds. In fact, it’s not uncommon for marathoners and runners to consume high-calorie meals as most will be expended during their run so that they have enough in reserve at the end of their run and don’t, um, die afterwards.

If you’re truly serious about losing weight, here’s a thought: avoid fast foods. That isn’t my advice; that came from my doctors. And rumor has it that they know a little about the human body.

Now I’m not saying I don’t enjoy an occasional fast food meal but I don’t make them a staple of my diet. (If I do eat out, it’s mostly chicken—I’ve given up red meat and fried foods.) I didn’t lose my weight by not brown-bagging it to work, not making healthy meals the night before, not cutting up watermelons and pineapples to make my daily 2 cups of fruit, or not drinking at least 2 pints of water per day. Losing and maintaining your weight is all about choices and if your dilemma is choosing between a Big Mac and a Whopper, you’re doing it wrong.

Sure, David Zinczenko is good-looking, successful and had his book featured all over the place. But in Eat This, Not That! the only thing the dude is doing is saving you from reading the nutritional values and combining the information with pretty pictures in a perfect-bound package. Crap on a cone still isn’t ice cream no matter how you look at it, even if you once dated Rose McGowan.

Look, if all you want is fast food nutritional information that is constantly updated, it’s available for free on Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone, my one source for Weight Watchers Points Values before eating out.

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This entry is a SimulPost and can also be read at HolographicMeatloaf.com

We had a meeting at work yesterday and while we were all in line for 500-calorie breakfast bagels, I heard somebody compliment one of the girls on her recent weight loss (Note: I had a bagel and ate my fruit cup for lunch instead of the Lean Cuisine pizza I had packed.) Coincidentally, the meeting was about our benefits package that includes a new wellness and fitness program.

And they’re feeding us bagels and cream cheese?

Ah, but I digress. The girl was beaming with delight and, frankly, a bit snotty about dropping some weight. Maybe it was the way another was ingratiating her about it. Keep in mind that the poor little thing was probably a Size 4 to begin with and now she’s down to, well, Size Subatomic Particle.

Then just before the meeting began, I heard another two women sitting beside me chatting about how a former employee lost about 40 lbs. on—get ready for it—the Weight Watchers Points Program.

“She looks so good!” one of them exclaimed. I leaned over and added my piece since, well, it’s working for me, too.

“Oh, I’m doing the Points Program, too,” I said with a smile. The woman nodded without acknowledging my drop in tonnage and continued the conversation with the other. And it’s not like our company is so big that these two women didn’t know who the hell I was. My God, I used to work in their department.

So..ahem. Yo, almost 62 lbs. lost here! What’s not to notice? My Fat Guy Pants are all gone! I’m into Size XL shirts now! And only one person at work—male, coincidentally, who is also on a weight loss plan—has spoken up about it?

It seems to me that unless a guy drops a ridiculous amount weight and goes from being his incognito fat self to a ripped Calvin Klein model, nobody seems to care about his achievement. But when a woman loses, oh, six ounces of water then it’s time to buy a new wardrobe, put her on a pedestal and throw her a damned party.

L’chaim!

It’s not like I go out begging people to give me props but damn, is the world that freaking jealous of what I’ve accomplished? Or am I just looking for recognition in the wrong places (around people I see every day)?

But you know, it’s this kind of thing that motivates me to do more and get it done right. And we’ll see who’s talking when I reach 200 lbs.—or less.

Oh, who am I fooling with that statement? They’ll probably ask if I got a haircut or something.